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Posted on Tue, Oct. 27, 2009 10:15 PM
In tiny River Bend, bond issue needs nine votes at most
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River Bend, a tiny Jackson County community, wants to issue revenue bonds.
Trustees would use the $300,000 raised to upgrade River Bend’s waterworks infrastructure. It represents an effort by trustees to attract more development to the approximately 1,200-acre area just north of the Missouri River, north of Sugar Creek and south of Liberty.
A simple majority is needed.
The community has 16 registered voters — meaning that the measure needs nine votes if everyone shows up.
Will the bonds be approved?
“I think so,” said Ron Wheeler, a member of the River Bend Board of Trustees. They already have five votes, he added — the five River Bend trustees who voted unanimously to put the measure on the ballot.
“I feel good about it,” Wheeler said.
River Bend is located on a thumb-like salient of land north of the Missouri River yet still within Jackson County. The area was created in 1947 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created a new channel for the Missouri River to straighten a bend in the waterway. The River Bend area, once south of the river, soon was north of it.
The community incorporated in 1997 after nearby municipalities expressed interest in perhaps annexing the area. Now, Wheeler said, he and other trustees are seeing more interest in possible investment.
“We’ve had a lot of interest, a lot of people coming to our monthly meetings,” he said. “This is a good opportunity for us to upgrade our water service.
“We now have a two-inch water line; we are just upgrading it to a more commercially friendly size.”
There are other challenges for potential River Bend investors, Wheeler said, as the area lacks traditional sewer service. While that means many homeowners have septic systems that have been grandfathered in over the years, he said, businesses sometimes have to store wastewater in holding tanks before trucking it out.
But, Wheeler said, an area water district that serves the River Bend area recently upgraded its own infrastructure.
“This is a good opportunity to upgrade ours,” he said.
The revenue bonds would be the first issued by River Bend, Wheeler said.
To reach Brian Burnes, call 816- 34-4120 or send e-mail to bburnes@kcstar.com.
Posted on Tue, Oct. 27, 2009 10:15 PM
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